The present invention relates to a container cap, and more specifically to a double function ring cap to prevent tampering without evidence thereof and to prevent children from reaching its contents.
The number of substances that should not be handled by children is growing every day. Such substances, for some tasks being indispensable, certainly are harmful in the hands of children. Examples of these substances are medicines, especially those designated as xe2x80x9ccontrolledxe2x80x9d, solvents, pesticides and other chemicals, either solid or liquid. It is not redundant to say that many of these substances are commonly found in a home or shop, and in places which are at the reach of children.
The inquisitive nature of children leads them to expose themselves to the peril of finding a container holding a harmful material for them either by inhalation, ingestion or mere touch, with the resulting temporary or permanent damage for the children. To avoid this type of harm a variety of container caps have been developed over time, having a child resistant purpose, this being attained in a higher or lower degree.
Child resistant caps should provide some sort of mechanism that should deter the child to open the cap, either the mechanism requiring a certain force not yet developed by the child, or that its operation requires some intelligence or manual dexterity also not yet developed during childhood.
One type of these inventions uses a cap comprising two parts. There is one internal part coupled to the neck of the bottle and forming the seal. The external part is configured in a way that for unthreading or opening the cap, the user must manipulate the external part in a manner such that this external part locks with the internal part; otherwise, the external part will only turn freely without opening the cap. Generally, the way to lock the external part with the internal part is through pressing down the external part and at the same turning thereof. This is a good option given that the child cannot read the instructions to open the container, nor has the skills to execute this operation.
Such cap as can be seen, comprises two parts, requiring assembly and separate and different machines and/or moulds for production thereof.
Another type of invention for child resistant caps uses a one piece cap, which coacts with one or more teeth or ridge located in the neck or mouth of the container or bottle. Generally these inventions provide a class of gear mechanism which allows the cap to be threaded but deters its threaded in an easy way. To unthread it is necessary to raise a part of the cap consisting of a ring to eliminate the operation of the ratchet formed between this ring and the ridges formed in the neck of the container. In another type of child proof caps, the cap is compressed in two opposite parts thereof, located at the middle of the distance between the ridges preventing the cap opening, deforming the cap to eliminate the blocking imposed by the ridges in the neck of the container.
An important object to which are dedicated many efforts, is to avoid tampering of the containers and thus their contents. To such effect, a series of devices are provided, particularly tamper proof rings, which make evident its opening.
The general operation of these rings showing if a container has been opened, comprises separation of the ring joined to the cap by turning the cap a certain degree. In some cases this turning is very small and in others it allows a little more freedom, but in both cases once over a certain limit, the rings start being separated from the cap by breaking part of the elements that join it to the cap.
There are also caps combining these two functions, that is to show if a container has been opened, and also that are child proof. However, caps of this type comprise two separately moulded pieces in which one of them contains the tamper proof ring, the inner piece, while the other, the outer piece, works together with the inner piece and provides the cap with the feature of being child proof. This type of cap, besides using double moulds and double machinery for their production, requires an assembly or disassembly step of both pieces.
Currently in the market there is a single piece type of cap using a ring with this double function, providing both opening evidence and being child proof.
This cap basically comprises a ring having a series of ridges on its inner periphery which interact with another series of ridges located in the neck of the container matching in diametral pitch, to result in a ratchet action, allowing the free movement of the cap when being closed but preventing any movement when an attempt is made to open it. To be able to unscrew the cap it is necessary to raise the ring almost a hundred percent of its perimeter and release the ridges of the cap from the ridges on the container neck. In order to raise this ring it is necessary to break a series of links between the ring and the cap thus showing in a not very evident way that the cap has been removed from its position.
Therefore, there is the need of a cap which child proof, that shows a clear evidence of opening and further moulded in a single piece, thus avoiding the double moulding of caps and assembly thereof with their corresponding extra expenses.
To the best knowledge of the inventor there is no cap in the market that meets the above described requirements.
The present invention will be described with reference to a preferred embodiment although from the present description there will be evident modifications that may exist with reference to the subject matter of the present invention without departing from the scope thereof. The present invention basically consists of a cap having adhered thereto a ring in turn comprised by two parts, but moulded in the same piece. These parts can be of the same 20 size in perimeter or can be of different perimeters for example the first part can be of a longer perimeter than the second part, or vice versa.
In fact, the ring comprises two pieces that in the preferred embodiment, are of the same size. One of the parts comprises the elements that will provide the container its tamper resistance and the other will provide the feature of being child proof. The part corresponding to tamper resistance shows a series of ridges or projections and valleys interacting with the corresponding projections and valleys that has the container""s neck and matching in pitch therebetween. The projections and valleys in the container are shown in all the neck""s periphery, as is known in the art.
The part providing the child proof feature comprises a lower or equal number of ridges than the tamper resistant part, depending on the use of the cap and its dimensions at least one of these ridges is preferred and a maximum being determined by the cap""s dimensions, as is evident to anyone skilled in the art.
Likewise the length of the parts will depend mainly on the cap""s dimensions and the manufacturing material features.